Northern U.S. border is menace, Bishop says

It holds relatively little controversy — talk radio shows don't do remote broadcasts there and the Minutemen don't stake it out that much — but America's northern border is as big a threat to U.S. security as its more infamous southern one.

At least, that's what Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, believes.

Bishop, in Utah during the congressional recess, met with the Deseret Morning News editorial board Thursday to discuss various topics, including immigration.

Bishop said securing America's sieve-like borders is a priority, but many Utahns think there is only one border that needs fixing. Bishop noted that all 23 of the 9/11 hijackers entered the country through Canada and said that just as many criminal illegal aliens (those aliens who commit crimes in addition to border crossing) come through Canada as Mexico.

"There are a lot of Russian (criminals) that come through the north," Bishop said.

Securing U.S. borders will take money and manpower, Bishop said. The congressman said he does believe that the United States can come up with the necessary resources, both bodies and cash, needed to secure the borders even while fighting the war in Iraq.

He added that he doesn't believe the Iraq war is injuring border security efforts and considers securing the border and fighting the Iraq war to be equally important in defending the United States from terrorist attacks.

Beyond domestic security, Bishop said he believes Social Security reform will again become a hot topic in the near future.

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E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com